Disclaimer: This is an independent creative test made with AI, for demonstration only. It isn't an ad for any brand shown or named, and isn't affiliated with, sponsored or endorsed by them. All trademarks belong to their owners
Nano Banana Pro - clear glass bottle product shots from one photo
Six product shots of a clear gel cleanser bottle from one packshot, and what broke on the glass
Tested by Nouamane Benbrahim
Can you get real-looking product shots of a see-through bottle from just one product photo?
I wanted to find out, so I picked a clear glass bottle full of pale green gel: the Youth to the People kale cleanser, with its black label. This wasn't for a client, just a test. I set every shot in and around a lily pond.
Here's how I did it.
1. Start from one clean product photo
I uploaded one straight-on photo of the bottle on white and attached it to every shot. On the shots where the label is big in the frame, I also wrote out what's on it word for word, in order: "KALE + GREEN TEA SPINACH VITAMINS", "SUPERFOOD CLEANSER", the round monogram and the brand name.
The label came out right on every bottle in the set.
2. Light it from behind
For the hero shot, the bottle stands on a big chartreuse lotus leaf floating on olive water. I put the light behind it so it shines through the gel, plus a soft rim along the glass so it separates from the water. I also asked for the glass to have visible thickness and for a real gel line near the shoulder.
When you zoom in, you can see the gel line, the thick glass edge and water beads on the outside, which is exactly what I was after.
Exact prompt
Create a new photorealistic image. Preserve the exact product from the first reference: the clear round glass pump bottle filled with translucent pale lime-green cleanser gel, white pump top, black condensed sans-serif label text "KALE + GREEN TEA SPINACH VITAMINS", "SUPERFOOD CLEANSER", the circular monogram, and "YOUTH TO THE PEOPLE". Do NOT redesign the bottle or label. THE VIBE: Quiet botanical luxury — the cleanser looks as if it grew out of a still, living pond. Cool, wet, green-gold calm; skincare as an ancient ritual. THE SUBJECT: The bottle stands upright on a single large, saturated chartreuse lotus leaf floating on still water, three-quarter view, tilted very slightly as if the leaf just settled. Glass has visible thickness and crisp edges; the green gel glows from within with a real meniscus near the shoulder. THE SETTING: A calm pond of opaque olive-green water, a few smaller sage lily pads drifting at the frame edges, one soft out-of-focus pad in the foreground. THE LIGHT: Soft overcast daylight from above and behind, backlighting the gel into internal luminosity, a gentle rim along the glass separating it from the water; muted, slightly desaturated green grade with the leaf as the one vivid pop. THE KEY DETAILS: A few water beads on the glass and a single round droplet pooled on the lotus leaf's centre vein; faint ripples ringing the leaf. THE MOOD: Editorial skincare campaign still — serene, fresh, cool. THE COMPOSITION: High three-quarter angle looking down, bottle slightly off-centre on the circular leaf, the leaf's round form framing it; generous olive negative space. THE CAMERA: Cinematic editorial capture, 85mm, shallow depth of field, focus rolls off gently into the water; Deakins-style naturalism, fine subtle film grain. THE LABEL: Brand name, product name and monogram sharp and legible, rendered accurately. Every element feels tactile and present, hyperreal.
3. Shoot the gel by itself
Then a macro of the formula: the pump nozzle with a dollop of gel sitting on a lily pad, a thin strand still hanging off the tip. I asked for tiny air bubbles inside the gel and droplets all over the pad.
Exact prompt
Create a new photorealistic image. Preserve the exact product from the first reference: the clear round glass bottle, white pump top, translucent pale lime-green cleanser gel. Do NOT redesign it. THE VIBE: An intimate macro of the formula itself — cool, slick, alive. The gel feels like pond water made precious. THE SUBJECT: Extreme close-up of the white pump nozzle just after dispensing: a glossy, translucent pale lime-green dollop of gel resting on the surface of a sage-green lily pad, a thin strand of gel still connecting to the nozzle tip. The gel refracts light, with tiny suspended air bubbles inside. THE SETTING: The lily pad's fine radiating veins and waxy surface fill the frame, water droplets beaded across it; dark olive water visible at one edge. THE LIGHT: Soft diffused overcast light from behind, glowing through the gel and the droplets; crisp specular highlights on the gel's curved surface; muted green grade. THE KEY DETAILS: Beaded droplets, the pad's slightly serrated edge, the only-just-visible curved glass of the bottle shoulder blurred at the top of frame, label out of focus. THE MOOD: Sensorial, clean, hydrated — texture shot from a luxury skincare campaign. THE COMPOSITION: Macro framing, the gel dollop in the lower third, the nozzle entering from upper frame, the pad's veins as leading lines toward the gel. THE CAMERA: Macro lens, very shallow depth of field, focus locked on the gel's edge; Fincher-precise clarity with soft natural light, subtle film grain. Every element feels tactile and present, hyperreal.
The pump came out a little weird though. The nozzle stretches down like a tongue. At this crop most people won't notice, but I'd fix it before running it as an ad.
4. Make it tiny in a big frame
For the wide shot I went straight overhead and asked for the bottle to take up about a tenth of the frame. The label is tiny here, so I told the prompt to keep the branding legible and not push the fine print. It still reads, and you even get the bottle's reflection in the black water.
Exact prompt
Create a new photorealistic image. Preserve the exact product from the first reference: the clear round glass pump bottle with white pump, translucent pale lime-green gel, black label text and monogram. Do NOT redesign it. THE VIBE: The product as a tiny discovery in a vast, dark, still pond — mythic, meditative, hushed. THE SUBJECT: The bottle stands small on one lily pad amid a dense field of floating sage and jade lily pads, one of many round forms, reading clearly by its pale green glow. THE SETTING: A wide pond of deep near-black water with scattered lily pads of varied sizes, two white water lilies with yellow centres open nearby, a few floating reed stems and a faint drift of pollen on the surface. THE LIGHT: Overcast diffused daylight directly overhead; the dark water mirrors a dull pale sky; the gel's translucency catches the light so the bottle glows softly; muted, desaturated green-black grade. THE KEY DETAILS: Tiny ripples around the bottle's pad, water beads on the glass, the reflection of the bottle faint in the black water. THE MOOD: Atmospheric campaign opener — calm, luxurious, nature as spa. THE COMPOSITION: Directly top-down bird's-eye view, the bottle placed on a rule-of-thirds intersection, occupying about one tenth of the frame; lily pads run off every edge so the pond feels endless. THE CAMERA: Cinematic overhead capture, deep focus across the surface, Villeneuve-style vast stillness, subtle film grain. THE LABEL: Branding legible but small; fine print not emphasised.
5. Take it out of the water
A flat lay on wrinkled linen gives the set a break from all the pond shots. I pulled the props from the label and from a skincare routine: torn kale leaves, a green tea sprig, a jade roller and gua sha in a bowl of ice, and a frangipani. Meltwater drips on the linen keep it wet like the rest.
Exact prompt
Create a new photorealistic image. Preserve the exact product from the first reference: the clear round glass pump bottle, white pump, translucent pale lime-green gel, black condensed label text "KALE + GREEN TEA SPINACH VITAMINS", "SUPERFOOD CLEANSER", circular monogram, "YOUTH TO THE PEOPLE". Do NOT redesign it. THE VIBE: A morning skincare ritual laid out on linen — slow, cool, botanical, deliberate. THE SUBJECT: The bottle lies on its side on rumpled off-white linen, label facing up. THE SETTING: Soft creased ivory linen sheet. Beside the bottle: a round dark walnut bowl filled with ice cubes holding a pale green jade facial roller with gold hardware and a jade gua sha stone; two torn curly kale leaves; a sprig of green tea leaves; one cream-and-yellow frangipani flower; a small lily pad with a water droplet. THE LIGHT: Soft natural window light from upper left, gentle shadows, melting ice catching specular glints, the gel glowing pale green; muted warm-neutral grade with green accents. THE KEY DETAILS: Condensation beading on the bottle and bowl, small drips of meltwater darkening the linen. THE MOOD: Editorial still life — clean beauty, calm, tactile. THE COMPOSITION: Directly top-down flat-lay, circular forms repeating (bowl, pad, flower), bottle on a gentle diagonal, balanced negative space of linen. THE CAMERA: Overhead editorial still life, even crisp focus, soft natural light, subtle grain. THE LABEL: Brand name, product name and monogram sharp and legible.
6. Watch the glass when something sits on top of it
Clear glass gave me two problems I didn't see coming.
The waterline cuts the label. The split shot, half above the water and half below, looks great overall. But "VITAMINS" breaks right at the waterline, and the print on the back of the label shows through the glass in reverse. A real clear bottle shows its back print too. Here it piles up right where the front label breaks, so the words get hard to read.
Exact prompt
Create a new photorealistic image. Preserve the exact product from the first reference: the clear round glass pump bottle, white pump, translucent pale lime-green gel, black label text and monogram. Do NOT redesign it. THE VIBE: The bottle half-submerged in a clear green pond — the boundary between air and water, fresh and weightless. THE SUBJECT: The bottle floats upright, half above and half below the waterline, tilted slightly. THE SETTING: A split-level over-under view: above the waterline, lily pads rest on the surface with soft overcast sky; below, clear green-tinted water with long lily stems descending into soft green haze, tiny suspended particles and bubbles clinging to the glass. THE LIGHT: Diffused daylight from above; below the surface, soft caustic light ripples across the submerged glass and the gel glows from within; the waterline catches a bright specular edge. Cool green grade. THE KEY DETAILS: A crisp meniscus where water meets glass, bubbles on the submerged label, droplets on the upper half. THE MOOD: Refreshing, hydrating, surreal-calm campaign image. THE COMPOSITION: Eye-level at the water surface, bottle centred, waterline cutting horizontally through the middle of the frame and the bottle. THE CAMERA: Cinematic split-level underwater capture, sharp on the bottle, background softly blurred, Deakins naturalism, subtle grain. THE LABEL: The upper label text legible; submerged fine print softly refracted.
Gel in a hand turned solid. In the cupped hands shot, the gel came out like a firm green disc resting on her palm. It doesn't look like it would run at all. She's also wearing more than the one gold ring I asked for.
Exact prompt
Create a new photorealistic image. This is a photograph taken over a lily pond from the start — not a composite. The product is the exact bottle from the first reference: clear round glass pump bottle, white pump, translucent pale lime-green gel, black label text and monogram — do NOT redesign it. THE VIBE: A tender, tactile gesture — hands offering the formula like pond water, simple and elemental. THE SUBJECT: Two wet hands with warm medium-deep skin cupped together just above the water's surface, holding a small pool of clear water with a glossy dollop of translucent pale lime-green gel floating in it. Short natural nails, a thin gold ring. Water drips from the fingertips back into the pond. THE SETTING: Olive-green still water with lily pads below and around the hands; the bottle rests on a nearby lily pad at frame-right, partly cropped. THE LIGHT: Soft overcast daylight from above, the gel glowing in the cupped water, specular glints on wet knuckles and drips; muted green grade. THE KEY DETAILS: Drips forming ripples, a single white water lily bud nearby, water beads on the bottle. THE MOOD: Quiet, sensorial, pure. THE COMPOSITION: Top-down close-up, cupped hands centred, the circular pads and ripples repeating the round form. THE CAMERA: Cinematic editorial, macro-ish 100mm, shallow depth of field on the gel, subtle grain. THE LABEL: Label partially visible and legible, fine print soft.
Why it works
Every shot that worked had light coming through the gel, and the label was either written out or kept small on purpose. The two that broke both have something sitting over the glass: water in one, a hand in the other. My guess is that's what tripped the model up, but I haven't tested it yet.
Your turn: take one photo of a clear bottle and ask for the light to come from behind it.
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